FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a separator for separating solids from a mixture of liquid and solids which is suctioned from a patient's mouth at a dental treatment site. The solids include drilling grit, bone splinters, mercury-containing amalgam particles, possibly also particles of dental metals, such as dental gold, etc., of which mercury in particular must not be allowed to enter the waste water for reasons of environmental protection.
For about 20 years now, at least a large proportion of the solids has therefore been separated off from the mixture, and there have in principle been three different possible ways of doing this, namely deposition of heavy particles by the effect of gravity, deposition with active assistance of centrifugal forces in centrifugal drums or the like, and retention of particles above a certain size by means of filters, sieves or the like.
Each of these three possibilities has disadvantages: Thus, retention of solids by means of filters and sieves arranged in the circulation leads to relatively rapid blockage of the pores and meshes, the deposition by gravity requires the mixture to flow through the solids separator chamber slowly and with the least possible disturbance, something which cannot be guaranteed during dental work since greatly varying quantities of liquid are flowing in, and the separation by means of centrifuges requires considerably more complex apparatus with drive motor, control system, etc.